A self-assembled Al-bridged diiminopyridine-based ligand (3) was synthesized and characterized by FT-IR, ESI-MS and NMR spectroscopy. Electron spectral titrations were performed to confirm the formation of a novel trinuclear bis(imino)pyridyl iron(II) complex (4) upon addition of FeCl 2 into Al-bridged ligand 3 in methanol solution. Simultaneously, a typical bis(imino)pyridine-iron(II) complex (2) was synthesized and fully characterized. The X-ray crystal study of the iron(II) complex 2 disclosed a five-coordinate, distorted squarepyramidal structure with the tridentate N^N^N ligand and chlorides. The optimal molecular structure of 4 was obtained by means of molecular mechanics, which showed that each iron atom in the complex 4 is surrounded by two chlorides, a tridentate N^N^N ligand and one oxygen atom, supporting considerations about the possibility of six-coordinate geometry from MMAO or the ethylene access. A comparison of 4 with the reference 2 revealed a remarkable decrease of the catalytic activity and MMAO consumption (activity up to 0.41 × 10 3 kg mol , Al/Fe = 1600 for 2).
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